


Close Yet Far

by heartykeykeke



Category: Produce 101 (TV), Wanna One (Band)
Genre: Angst, Disney, Fantasy, Fluff, Little Mermaid AU, M/M, Melancholy tone, Mythology - Freeform, OngNiel is science, Ongniel, Prince Daniel - Freeform, Romance, based on the little mermaid myth and movie, medieval times, mermaid au, merman ong, there's no songs unfortunately
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-05
Updated: 2019-07-18
Packaged: 2020-06-09 17:12:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 20,174
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19480390
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/heartykeykeke/pseuds/heartykeykeke
Summary: On his sweet sixteen birthday party, crown prince Daniel has an encounter with a beautiful merman. Their lives would never be the same.





	1. Sweet Sixteen

**The Year 1705**

“I can’t have anymore of our people dying while trying to get a message across to Ariel. What do you want me to do? Our population is dropping enough already because of the land-walkers.”

“Please, dear, rethink your decision. That is our daughter. We have no other way of hearing news of her.”

“Then, so be it. She chose them over us, the way I see it. I don’t see her risking any of the land-walkers’ lives to contact us. We are holding on when she doesn’t want us to. She doesn’t need us anymore, honey. She doesn’t care about anyone but her land-walker prince. I should have cut off all contact with her the day she sold her voice for legs to the sea witch. From then, she’s become a nuisance. We have other daughters and sons as well to care for. The land-walkers cannot be trusted.”

“But…people know of her already. What will they say?”

“Well, no-one knows what has happened to her since her last birthday, do they? Since the only people we told were captured by the land-walkers for their fins, skinned like whales. I’ll tell a tale and that will spread through the kingdom naturally. That she saw her prince married and her broken heart at that time turned her into seafoam. That she’s dead.”

The king’s wife gasped. “How could you? It’s our child!”

“She’s as good as dead, honey. You need to understand that, as cruel as it sounds. She has legs now. She’s married. She’s become a land-walker princess. She’s a part of a world that we don’t have good relations with yet. Since those people see us as freaks or animals. Many don’t believe we even exist.

We have no choice. This is better for everyone. Until she can get her prince to change the laws and protect us, though I doubt she’s thinking or talking of us. She must want to hide where she’s from or those land-walkers will not follow her. They will riot to have her harpooned and tossed back into the ocean, anchors tied to her fins for the betrayal.”

“I don’t want to…It’s too cruel…our beloved daughter, my Ariel…I don’t want to let her go or never speak of her again…”

“It’s what must be done for the safety of our people. We will say that there’s a curse on mermaids that fall for humans. If they have their heart broken, they will become seafoam like her—that mermaids and land-walkers being together is a cursed fate. And we will spread the word that humans are dangerous, which is the truth. As of today, all people residing in our kingdom are forbidden from going to the surface and interacting with humans. We also will abide by this rule. We will not be making any effort to contact Ariel ever again.”

“My daughter…she’s all alone up there…she must miss us and her friends….no matter that she chose love over her life as a mermaid, the idea of her with no-one should something happen to that man…it breaks my heart…”

The king couldn’t stand to stay in the room with his queen collapsed on the palace floor and sobbing. He swiftly swam away with a stern face and troubled mind. A part of him was broken as well at the thought of losing his daughter all over again, but a king’s job often required to make sacrifices for his kingdom as in this case. He would do his best to convince himself Ariel was truly dead and then erase her permanently from his mind. Hopefully, by the time he became food for the other creatures of this world, that aching, gaping part of his hole would have been re-filled.

Several generations and over a hundred years passed. The story of what happened to Ariel became more of a myth which the merpeople weren’t sure to believe completely, but one thing that didn’t change was the ban on visiting the surface for longer than a few minutes and of interacting with humans. There were no longer any lost princes or princesses and the cases of stolen merpeople decreased but did not disappear. Some of the merpeople were curious and disobedient, underestimating humans.

Ariel and her prince’s son sired many children who sired many more children, all living in the palace on land next to the sea she’d once called home. Some of those royals were as kind-hearted and fond of the sea as Ariel had been. A rare amount realized the continued of existence of merpeople while most attempted to bury any official sightings of them, scared of the unknown and of war with foreign people. None of the royals with mermaid blood had yet to meet one however, so they didn’t know of their special abilities or of the personality and culture of those people. Hence, the land and the sea kingdoms had yet to peacefully interact.

Until the crown prince Kang Daniel took power when he was twenty-six years old. He spoke of merpeople and their kingdom as if he had grown up there. He began to champion that they needed to reach out to the king of the sea and hold hands with him, which would better their economy and the security of their nation. He said that they were a gentle nation that we could learn from. During the first decade of his reign, the existence of merpeople was solidified, though he was not able to contact the king personally and bring their nations fully to peace. It was a work in progress.

The question on everyone’s mind that Daniel refused to elaborate on—how was it that a sheltered prince came to know many things about the merpeople? Why did he speak as if he personally knew of one?

The prince merely said that it wasn’t necessary that they knew and most of his knowledge came from a diary he found of Ariel, who was now known to have actually been a mermaid princess for some reason abandoned by her people and unable to return to the sea, though she longed for it her whole life. In reality, Daniel was protecting someone precious to him from the harm of greedy humans as he knew that not everyone in the land could be changed in that short of a time.

**The Year 1855**

It was the crown prince’s sweet sixteen. To celebrate, the royal family threw a party on one of their cruise boats with three floors. Most of the procession was dancing to live music and eating on the upper floors. The prince didn’t really like crowds and he wasn’t much of a talker. He preferred the company of his four royal cats, often shutting himself up in the study with them to read various stories and myths from around the world.

He loved to read and play with his cats. They were the only ones that knew how loving and gentle and full of ideas he was because he acted himself around them and shared in all of his secrets. Everywhere else he acted as his counselors and tutors had taught him—to be a cool, mature, collected prince.

He only spoke when he was spoken to and he answered questions exactly as he knew he was supposed to. As if he were a programmed robot. He barely showed emotion, since overexpression was something considered something lowly commoners of non-royal birth did. He remained poker faced and was rarely affectionate with anyone, not even his parents since he was ten years old. It was a sad yet natural factor in the grooming process of the crown prince. He was meant to become a carbon copy of his father.

The prince had many ideas about how to make the kingdom better that he kept to himself, his cats, and within the contents of his journals. However, he didn’t voice his opinions out in the meetings he was allowed to attend simply because it wasn’t the right timing. He had to let the palace believe that he shared the same sentiment and conservative ideas with them for now. Once he had true power, then he’d be allowed to do as he pleased rather than mimicking his father’s ideals and by then he would have gained the respect and love of the people with his good image.

His ideas were slightly radical, but he thought they would be accepted by a large part of the nation because the nation needed change; it needed progress if they were to prosper instead of merely survive. His father simply couldn’t keep up with the times or see a greater vision. They needed expansion and trade and to improve the overall quality of the commoner life. They needed new laws, routes, materials, ideas, and systems that were not outdated.

He had plans to change all of that, gradually over time after he was coronated. He simply needed to be organized, kind, and reassuring while presenting ideas to the people and the royals. He had confidence that he could gain their trust as long as he waited, acting appropriately without ruffling feathers which would dangerously lose favor from those in the palace, causing negative rumors to spread to the people. The nation would only support his ideas if they trusted him and knew of him to be a good person with a good head on his shoulders. Hence, although he had a childlike, immature side, he only showed that in the confines of his study.

It was tiring to act like another person for an extended period of time. He appreciated the celebration for his birthday, but knowing that people were more excited for the excuse to party, be noisy, and let loose like they couldn’t otherwise in their daily lives inside the palace grounds made him less obligated to join. He escaped to the lower deck where it was the quietest and farthest from the noise.

“Finally, the sound of the ocean. How splendid it is…” the blonde adorned with a jacket of purple and gold of the finest fabrics hung over the railing, looking wistfully out over the ocean with a relaxed smile.

Even when it was dark and the water was turned indigo with the moonlight instead of its usual emerald green color, the prince adored looking out at the ocean. Since he was young, he’d been oddly fond of it. He would stare out any window he passed by, losing track of time.

It was beautiful, calming, vast, intriguing. He felt various different emotions when he watched it, some he wasn’t sure why. He had this unexplainable an attachment to it. He loved the ocean. Although he wasn’t a good swimmer and so he was scared to go into it. With a swimming pool or a bath, you could see the bottom and judge how far it was down but with the ocean you had no idea. It seemed never-ending and who knew what sort of creatures lurked there, some wanting to cause harm.

Being fascinated by the world of the ocean which he could not see beyond the rocking waves at the surface, he read the most books during his free time on marine life. He’d come across some myths in the palace library. He was the sort of open-minded person that believed anything could exist or be true if there was a story about it, just that the facts became unraveled and confused over time so that people started to believe it less and less.

He was not the sort of person that needed to see it to believe it. Rather he thought everything could be true, it was merely that he’d yet to have seen it or heard the facts from someone he trusted. Nessy, mermaids, Moby—he didn’t believe they were impossible. Many fishermen spoke of those creatures, so how could it be certain that they were made up?

He figured people’s fears of the unknown made them bury and falsify those stories in order for them to sleep better at night while living alongside the ocean. Surely it would be difficult to go out at sea when you knew there could be something large or intelligent that might not be friendly.

Though the tales he’d heard of mermaids never suggested they weren’t friendly. Merely shy and curious, sometimes kind and able to communicate but with their own sort of language. Books told of a palace under the sea and a royal family just like his own, suggesting that they hid from humans because they had once been extensively hunted for their fins and scales, as trophies or for medicinal purposes.

“What is it like to live in the water? I imagine it would be cold and dark…and your skin would probably be all wrinkly and grimy from being wet all the time. Like a grape. And you’d be pale as a ghost too since you wouldn’t get any sunlight…”

As usual, when he was alone the prince talked to himself. Various useless wonderings that his tutors would scold him for. They said that he had a wonderful brain but he used 50% of it for unnecessary thoughts, things that were impossible or childish. That it was a waste and a habit he needed to fix before he took power. It was annoying how their rules couldn’t be bent to keep some semblance of himself.

The prince rested his head on his arms as he hung on the metal railing, eyes fixated on the way the circular shape of the full moon reflected in the water continuously broke from the ripples as the waves sloshed into the boat. The ocean was always moving and he wondered why. Even when it was relatively calm, it was never still. As if it never slept. Or was it that there were hundreds of creatures underneath the surface disturbing it?

He was shaken out of his thoughts by the sounds of booms and crackles, the pearly, rippling circle on the water’s surface tinted shades of red, blue, and yellow. Looking up, he noticed someone in the entourage had brought fireworks to light from the front of the boat. The way they streamed and sparkled in arches across the sky, fading into swirly trails of smoke was fascinating, though he disliked the sound.

Even when he knew the boom was coming, he still jumped and covered his ringing ears, flushing at his own cowardice. A future king shouldn’t have as many fears as he did—the ocean depths, bugs, loud noises, being surrounded in darkness when he needed to sleep, and various others. He only hoped it was something that he’d grow out of and studying books would at least help him with one or two of those fears.

He was less afraid of the dark ocean and the creatures that roamed in it now so during the hot summer months he actually was able to gather enough courage to go in up to his thighs now. He was growing up and becoming braver, though it wasn’t fast enough for him. A splash and flash of movement caught his eye and he turned.

He swore that for a second he saw a dark haired, pale skinned, bare chested human bathed in the moonlight, but that must have just been his imagination.

“Oh!” the prince gasped, jumping back from the railing and plopping his hand over his slackened mouth.

This time he’d seen something clearly that he’d only ever seen in books. A unique and graceful tail bending out and then diving into the ocean, smack in the middle of the moonlit ocean. It had been the most unique shade of blueish green and shimmered as if it were mixed with pearl dust.

_Did I just see a…mermaid? They really do exist? I knew it! What do I do?_

The prince was half scared, half curious. Curiosity got the better of him, giving him a spark of bravery. He reminded himself that he’d not once heard of a story where mermaids hurt or were even cruel towards people. Most fisherman had only seen glances of them lasting at most a couple of seconds because they were shy and scared of humans. They hid and it was rare for them to have come up to a boat’s edge.

Daniel wondered why one would come here. Were they following food? Had they never seen a boat? Were they merely one of the brave ones out for a stroll and unlucky to have swam across a place lit by the lanterns and moonlight?

His hands shook as he held the railing, leaning over the edge, his eyes straining in the shadowed area. Attached to that side of the boat was an anchor and a rescue tube in case someone happened to go overboard. He swore that he saw a strange, bumpy outline where there should be a smooth curve. The mermaid was hiding behind the tube, trying to remain completely still.

The prince moved out of the light, his eyes growing used to the darkness and allowing him to see better. He sensed the creature was holding its breath, nervous about being found. He remained there, waiting for any sign of movement to confirm his suspicions, wishing that he had a flashlight to shine but then grateful he didn’t because they surely would have dove away.

Eventually, there was a subtle shift and he noticed the clear profile of a human face--one with sharply defined features of incredible elegance. Some of the fisherman he read stories from had spoken of merpeople being exceptionally beautiful, even the men. Judging from the roundness at the back of his profile and the broad width of the shoulder he could see, the prince assumed it was likely a man.

The merman was looking up, seeming interested in the fireworks. The prince laid on the railing with his head turned, unmoving and being as quiet as possible with his breathing, watching the figure curiously. He wanted to see it, maybe interact with it. It was as if he were living a fairytale, like that one told of his ancient ancestor, Ariel.

Although he wasn’t sure if it was true, there was a rumor that she was a mermaid and thus that meant there was a mix of mermaid blood in his family which was supposedly why many of them had lustrous shiny golden hair and had a tendency to love the ocean or marine related hobbies.

They also happened to be known for their good looks and naturally fair skin which on some were described as ethereal even. Daniel didn’t think that way of himself, however. He was slightly tanner and uglier than his past relatives had been (according to paintings in the various halls anyway, who knew if those painters had truly been generating what they really saw). If he had mermaid blood in him, it must be very little and quite washed out, he figured.

Prince Seongwoo was out for a swim-stroll. He loved to swim through the water at night when the ocean was the calmest and quietest. The tranquility soothed his soul and it was better to swim because of less traffic. Most of the other creatures hunted in the morning or afternoon when the ocean was livelier. He hated the idea of being around the blood and panic of the hunted.

He’d float around on his back in the dark, cool water somewhat close to the surface to get a good look at the moon. It was pretty, shining, and bright no matter the day or size which gradually changed. It was mysterious and romantic.

That night as he gazed at it while gliding through the still, cool water, he recalled various stories he knew related to the moon, most related to love. There was something special about it and there was only one in the world as he knew it. He felt close to other creatures, both those in the water and on land when he thought that they were all under one moon and likely watching it at the same moment, feeling similar, strange feelings.

His view was suddenly blocked by a large oval shadow. Coming from that were the sounds of music, human voices, and laughter—or so he guessed since it was foreign to him. Mermaids made their own versions, though much softer and not as distinct. He had heard that humans were loud and music made with all sorts of tools made from metals and woods and thin ropes, not like coral and shells and seaweed as theirs were.

The shape and color and various buzzing sounds coming from it told him what he needed to know. It was what was called a boat. The things that humans used to get around the merpeople and marine life’s territory since they couldn’t breathe underwater or swim far or for a very long time. They also had no fins or gills.

Otherwise, humans were rumored to be similar to them. They had families, a kingdom, enjoyed accessorizing, could talk with a complex language with various sounds, designed and used tools, were ruled by a royal family centered around a king and queen, took care of each other in a community, were curious and full of emotions, liked to make music and play, studied about the world of the sea and the land through their own records made from trees, had the ability to read and write their language.

The merpeople knew of the humans and could read some of their language, though they could not speak it because they lacked the ability to imitate the complex sounds they made (they didn’t teach human in schools obviously since they had no reason to interact with humans being that they were banned). Humans, however, supposedly knew less and less about their existence since they hid from humans as much as possible.

They were allowed to go to the surface only at night for a limited amount of time but the kingdom had long ago put a strict ban on interacting with humans, especially on approaching those on the shores or in boats. Many of those people were called ‘fishermen’ who hunted all sorts of creatures. If captured, they might have their fins cut off for various purposes, the worst being a trophy on the walls of the places they slept in. That was a dreadful thought.

These rules were strictly applied more so for the princes and princesses of the royal family. They were banned from ever going to the surface. He’d be in trouble for even taking swim-strolls on his own anywhere near it.

Prince Seongwoo was almost always accompanied by his friends or siblings or a super bulky, grumpy guard. Until he and his crab and clam friends made secret passageway to get out of his room a year ago. Since then, he’d occasionally wondered out on his own on those nights when he couldn’t sleep well, especially when he was exhausted from his studies and lessons. It was frustrating for the prince with a curious and free spirit to be cooped up in the predictable, mildewing walls of the palace.

He liked socializing and he liked to learn things, however he grew tired of the same conversations with merpeople royalty and the narrowed scope of what he could learn from there library of shell records. He enjoyed learning about humans, though he had to be careful not to let his family know of his interests, not certain members anyway.

It was natural for merpeople to be interested in humans and life on land. However, humans were seen as a people to be wary of. They were thought of as potentially dangerous and narrow-minded, cruel, selfish, unimaginative. They didn’t believe in their existence even. The ones that knew of them were too cowardly to tell others, so they hid it or falsified the tale, making them seem like mythical beings which endangered them if they were to be seen even more so. Anyone would want to capture them to show that they weren’t a fool or telling lies about a sighting of a mermaid.

It was fine to learn about humans, but it didn’t sit well with the palace people to be too curious or ask a lot of questions as Seongwoo did. He wanted to know everything about humans. He wanted to see one. He wanted to talk to one. He wanted to touch their human-crafted things.

He had a collection of human items in his room inside of a locked treasure chest. He’d bring whatever odd object he found from his adventures during day or night, then search through the shell records he had borrowed from the library of human objects to see what it was for. He didn’t think they were all accurate, however. Some explanations just seemed nonsensical but studying and guessing what it might be for was fascinating nonetheless.

_Can you see the moon better from there? What is it like to be on a boat? What is it like to walk on those legs, that’s what it’s called right? What does grass feel like? What does it feel like to breathe air all the time instead of water? Does their sensitive skin burn also under the hottest of the sunshine rays in the middle of the afternoon?_

He’d never felt more tempted than he was then to go near the boat with all of these unanswered questions swirling inside his active brain. However, he was also apprehensive. He wasn’t sure if they were friendly or what would happen if he were spotted or if he could swim away fast enough from their nets and harpoons if they weren’t friendly.

Seongwoo followed the boat swimming leisurely on his back, glancing between the underside and the shimmering moon, listening to the sounds of music and laughter which were intriguing and pleasant. Whatever they were doing up there sounded like a lot of fun. More fun than the parties the mermaids threw in the palace, since in general they were a subdued, quiet, tranquil, serious lot.

They enjoyed studying and arts and conversations and soft music. There wasn’t a lot of boisterous chatter and rowdy laughter or thumping and clapping from them.

Was there something about being exposed to air and the sun that made humans more energetic? Was it the food that they ate? Though he knew they also ate creatures and plants from the sea often as well, so that likely wasn’t it. Maybe it was simply their culture, their personalities were different depending on their upbringing.

_Do their princes and princesses have to marry within the royal family too? Of their own kind? Is there that sort of rule? Do their parents dictate what the children can do and where they go and who they meet as ours do? Do they fall in love and date and marry like we do? Do arranged marriages exist there as well? What’s it like for a mermaid to fall in love with a human? Is it even possible when we are so different and cannot properly communicate?_

He recalled the tale of the lost princess Ariel of ages ago in their kingdom. She had fallen for a prince she had once saved, sold her fins for legs to a sea witch in order to become human to pursue him, only to see him marry a human princess before her very eyes. Her broken heart had been so intense that she had turned to seafoam and disappeared.

This supposed curse was told from generation to generation repeatedly throughout his kingdom. Seongwoo had heard it so many times that he could tell the tale in detail, even act it out and toss in dialogue and imitate their actions and expressions. He loved that story, as depressing as the end was. It was more romantic than any of the other tales they had between mermaids.

There was incredible something about giving up all you ever knew to be with someone from another land. How intense and beautiful that love must have been. He wondered if he could ever like someone that way. He’d hardly had a crush on anyone in his kingdom, only the princes in those human tales which were drawn and written so exquisitely to sound courageous and charming and intelligent.

_Does their music sound different above water? What sort of things do they talk about? Why do they laugh so much? I wish I could know so that I could laugh along. What does a human really look like? Are they so different from us? I bet I’d learn a lot being closer._

Loud booms and crackling sounds came clearly through the water, making it ripple and his ears pierce vividly. He’d never hear a sound like that, the closest being gunshuts which he’d heard from a distance when there were some humans at sea trifling. This was louder and lasted longer, with an echo like popping bubbles. He swam down with a rapid dive, startled, then he looked back up with awe, floating not of his own accord closer.

The sky was decorated with various colors, like a painting, a river of mixed colors. It was so beautiful he had to see it better, without the effects of the rippling, murky water.

He swam to the surface and poked his head out to watch, then realized he was in danger a second later and plopped back under the surface where it was safe. He’d happened to come out in a spot where light was shining quite brightly and there was a human standing at the railing looking out over the water. He’d obviously seen him.

Seongwoo hid and froze the best he could, wondering if he should flee. He decided that he’d stay a bit longer. He wanted to see more of those bright lights. He peeked around the tube curiously at the human.

The human was young and not at all scary. He was beautiful actually. Not so different from the merpeople in the face, except that his hair was fluffy like clouds and the color of the sun and his skin was darker than his. From the neck up, they didn’t appear so different, even having this supernatural sort of aura. He had strange, multi-colored fabric wrapped tightly around his whole body.

Seongwoo recalled they were called clothes. His legs were in…pants. That was the word. He was leaning against the railing, not even seeming to sway with the waves. That was intriguing to him since mermaids were always moving and didn’t have good balance. They could barely sleep staying still. At least their tails were always moving with the push and pull of the water, even when they slept.

He couldn’t imagine what that was like or what it felt like to stand and walk on the ground. He could only swim and spin and dive in the water, brush the wet sand at the bottom of the ocean with his hands, hover over it. There was no fish that could stand and walk along it with the way their flimsy fins were designed.

Seongwoo pouted, enviously looking the human up and down, judging how the only thing his body had on it were his shell bracelets. Female mermaids had garments made of shells and seaweed wrapped around their chests but male mermaids had no need for it. He wondered if he would look good with clothes on, though he surely couldn’t look as good as that human did.

The sounds of the fireworks distracted him from watching the human leaning on the white interlocking poles sticking out from the top of the boat. He looked up, smiling in awe. Despite the ears made his ears sting and his body twitch in surprise, he immensely enjoyed each time the crackling sky flowers exploded. He felt alive experiencing something new, watching something he didn’t have a word or even a concept for.

“They’re called fireworks. You probably can’t see them well from there. Why don’t you come over this way to see them properly? I bet it’s your first time, since it’s not at all common practice to light off those dangerous things out in the middle of the ocean. Well, I haven’t seen them much in my life. Come out here. I won’t hurt you. I promise. I’m simply a little curious what you look like. Since I’ve never seen a mermaid before.”

_Merman, I’m called a merman._

Seongwoo wanted to correct him, opening his mouth and doing so in his own language which would sound like squeaks, purrs, and clicks to him. Though the human found the sound seemingly more interesting than terrifying or ugly to Seongwoo’s relief.

He wasn’t sure how he’d known that word since he’d never heard a human speak before but maybe it was that he knew the human word’s spelling and he was able to guess it? That was the extent of what he got. The human seemed to be explaining the sky flowers and wanting him to move away from the boat for some reason.

Seongwoo was wary to listen to him but there was something about the other’s face. The way that he smiled, the color of his eyes like amber stones—they were incredibly warm and kind seeming. Trusting his own exceptional judgement of character might extend to creatures that he didn’t have personal experience with and his own rapid speed and flexibility in the case that the situation turned dangerous such as he was hiding a harpoon somewhere, Seongwoo let go of the large ring and swam into the light.

Daniel covered his mouth, holding himself back from gasping. After he’d talked to it gently, it swam out away from the boat as he’d wished. He had a clear picture now. It was truly a mermaid. A merman. In the flesh (and scales).

He had pale, smooth skin and a gorgeous face that was very much human like, except enchanting and sparkly somehow, as if the seawater made his skin flawless and naturally radiate. His slick backed hair was as dark as night and quite long with natural waves and flecks of seaweed that needed to be picked out. His tail was splendid, long, slender, curvy, and the prettiest shade of bluish green and shiny, the fins translucent, flowy, and ever-so dainty like an angel fish.

He swam around in a slow circle as if he were showing off, spinning gracefully and flickering the end of his tail, the entire time smiling playfully. It was like an artistic show of the supernatural. A moving painting.

“Wow, so mermans do really exist….” Daniel muttered, dropping his hand to the railing and staring in blatant awe.

The mermaid smiled wide, nodding rather cutely which didn’t suit how regal he appeared. Daniel thought his face suited the crown more than him.

The merman stopped spinning and floated on the surface, his slender back bent, the water lapping just below his shoulders. He was incredibly pale like pearls themselves that Daniel could see his shape even under the dark water’s surface. He was lean and slightly toned but not as buff as he’d seen drawings of mermen before.

The prince admitted with a flush, “You’re…you’re the most beautiful being I’ve ever seen.”

He wasn’t one to notice that someone besides his cats was beautiful, especially not to be affected by it. There was no princess or prince that he’d come across in the palace or various balls in his family’s honor that had made him blush. It was strange that his face felt shy, his heart raced, and he suddenly felt self-conscious.

“I wonder if you understand anything that I’m saying…Am I the first human you’ve ever come across? Why is that the merpeople hide themselves? Do you really have a kingdom under the water? Are you from there? Do you know of the king and queen or how it’s possible for anyone to communicate with them? Is there some sort of ban on you coming to the surface or interacting with humans which is why there’s less and less sightings? Or are you a naturally shy people? Or did something happen and there’s few of you?”

The merman floating mostly still on his back furrowed his brows and frowned slightly, which did nothing to make him less attractive. He cocked his head several times in different directions, looking at the prince’s face with these twinkling, dark green eyes. It seemed as if he were putting in great effort to concentrate and guess at what Daniel was saying.

A few times he opened his mouth, emitting these interesting sounds that after awhile, Daniel realized must be his own language. He appeared frustrated when Daniel couldn’t figure out what he wanted to say. He scrunched his nose up, then sighed and flicked the water with his hands and tail until he was straight in the water, upper body largely exposed for the first time.

Daniel noticed the only accessory this merman wore were shimmering shell bracelets, tied on with some sort of thick dark green vine. The vine was intricately woven through and around the small shells which seemed unlike any that he’d ever seen. They sort of glowed in an odd sort of way, as if they emitted their own effervescent light.

The prince pointed to his arm.

“Do you use those as flashlights? Is it hard to see under the water? Maybe your eyes glow in the dark. They’re oddly colored. Not that they’re not beautiful, because they are. Exquisite, in fact. I just have boring brown eyes.”

The merman lifted his arm and looked at the bracelet, then back at the prince. This repeated a few times. Then he smiled wide, as if he was proud at understanding something. Though it was soon evident he didn’t really understand him. He took off the bracelet and tossed it up. Daniel caught it, almost clumsily dropping it since he was caught off guard and sports weren’t so important in his various lessons.

“Oh, I didn’t mean for you to give it to me. I was merely curious about it. I’ll look at it and give it back before you go. It is probably important to you.”

The merman watched him with an expectant expression. Daniel wasn’t sure what he was supposed to do after looking and feeling the bracelet. Once it was in his hand, he didn’t think of it as something so special. The shells were cool, smooth, wet, and seemed like they lost most of their unique shine when they were no longer in contact. Maybe their special properties only went into effect when touching seawater or it had simply been the effect of the merman himself. Since he was all naturally radiant elsewhere.

The merman demonstrated how to put on the bracelet. Daniel attempted to give it back, but the merman would shake his head with his lips cutely pursed out and poke at his wrist, repeating the gesture. This went on for a minute and eventually the merman grew irritated enough to splash him with water from a flick of his tail and rolled his eyes with a disgruntled grunt.

“Okay, I’ll keep it then. Don’t get angry please. See? Does it looks alright on me?”

Daniel put on the bracelet and showed it off with a bright smile, hoping to appease him. The disgruntled merman beamed, nodding and lightly clapping his hands.

“Oh, so there are some things that merpeople do that’s the same as us. You can get irritated and excited. Roll your eyes and clap your hands. Huh, interesting. There’s so much that I want to know. I wish I could understand what you are saying.”

After looking at the merman’s wistful expression and slightly sad smile, Daniel had some idea of what was going through his mind. “You too, huh? You want to know how to talk to me and you have questions about humans as well. Hmm, maybe if we think of each other like babies. This is a boat. Repeat after me. Boat.”

“B-bo…t…”

“Close enough. I’m a prince. Prince Daniel.”

“Pr…n…s…Dan…el…”

The merman strained himself to make the foreign sounds, his face scrunching up like he was constipated, his lips stretching and pursing comically. Yet always so incredibly beautiful and adorable. Daniel chuckled, smiling at the other with a look of fondness and amusement.

“That could use some work, but nice try. How about you teach me something from your language. What’s this called?”

He pointed at the water, realizing that he probably should have been more specific because the merman might think he was asking sea or wave. He thought of mimicking drinking water from a glass, then he realized merpeople likely didn’t drink anything. It’s not like they had any reason to be thirsty and they were animals that likely needed saltwater like other marine animals. At least that made rational sense.

Seongwoo made a series of clicks with his tongue and pops of his lips ending in a soft sort of growl from the back of his throat. Daniel made a motion for him to repeat it a few times before he attempted it. The merman clapped excitedly and flickered his pretty blue tail so that he performed this graceful twirl in the water, almost like a dancer.

His smile was brighter than ever, putting the moon to shame, his green eyes positively glowing with happiness. Daniel could tell the next sounds were praise for him and possibly him commenting on being happy to be able to use his own language. Daniel repeated it a few more times proudly, loving the merman’s excessive actions. He seemed like such a kind, bubbly, enthusiastic person.

“One more. Teach me another. What can I call you? I don’t know if you have names there, but I hope that I know what to call you. I’m Prince Daniel. What’s your name?” He repeated the question two more times while using hand gestures and speaking slowly.

“N-na…me…Seongwoo. Seo…ng….woo….”

“Seongwoo did you say? Oh, that doesn’t seem so difficult. Maybe you have names similar to ours because we live in the same area. At least it’s not a bunch of clicks and growls this time.”

The merman crossed his hands and sulked, green eyes squinting to glower at him. Daniel laughed, flushing and slapping the railing while shaking his other hand frantically.

“Don’t misunderstand. I wasn’t insulting your name. I like your name. It’s a great name. Seongwoo. Very nice. Beautiful. It suits you. Seongwoo~”

The merman covered his face bashfully, seeming overwhelmed with delight to hear his name coming from a human’s mouth. There were these airy, musical sort of wheezing sounds coming out of his mouth. Daniel realized that was the sound of a mermaid laughing outside of the water. How intriguing it was.

Seongwoo couldn’t seem to stop himself from laughing. This prince was amusing. If the merman seemed the least bit upset, then he made the funniest overreactions with the most vivid expressions, then did his best to try and ‘comfort’ him.

_He seems like a sweetheart. I wish that our kingdom had a prince as a cute as him. Maybe then I’d reconsider my stance on dating and marriage._

He liked that one word that he kept repeating which made his face turn red afterwards. Beautiful. Prince Daniel thought he was beautiful. He had a good idea what that meant, that it was something positive about the way he looked.

“Prin…s…Da…nel…bee….yoo…t…ful….” he tried to say that the other was also beautiful, but he didn’t know the word or the grammar to make a proper sentence so he used his name instead, though he clearly butchered it compared to how Daniel said it.

His language was so rich and flowy, his voice so deep and husky. Seongwoo much preferred the human way of speaking which was one reason he’d suggested this impromptu language lesson. At least he could swim away knowing something new. How to say a few words romantically.

Daniel burst out laughing, flailing his hands. “Me? Beautiful? I’m not, I’m not! Not at all. Maybe you can say I’m handsome. Handsome.”

“Ha…hand…some…” Seongwoo attempted, immensely pleased with himself when he said the word almost correctly on his first try.

Prince Daniel covered his face, his ears turning the color of coral. Seongwoo wondered if all human’s skin turned color according to their moods, if their expression changes were so vivid. He really couldn’t get enough of seeing that face or hearing that voice.

The human talked a lot, he rambled basically. Seongwoo had a feeling he often talked to himself when he was alone. It was the opposite of him; Seongwoo didn’t talk much nor did he dare think aloud. Since he thought many things that might get him banned from leaving the palace, at worst forever kicked out of it.

On impulse, he jumped up towards the boat railing. He wanted to be closer. He wanted the human to see all of him like he could see all of him. He wanted to see the other’s reaction. He wasn’t afraid the human would be disgusted. As he had hoped, the other seemed startled but not scared. Once he got close to him, he felt this strange energy that was somehow familiar.

_He…does he have mermaid blood in him? Is that why I can understand him this much? Ah, so it wasn’t that I’m some genius. And not all humans have an aura or are this gorgeous then._

Daniel jerked but didn’t flee when the merman jumped up on the boat, wearing a playful grin, curiously glancing around the deck. Daniel figured that he must have wanted to see more of the boat. He gripped the railing and gulped, eyes wandering along the other’s dripping, glimmering, slender body discreetly.

The upper half was human and the lower half…not. He didn’t resemble a fish as much as he thought. There were tiny, almost invisible gills behind his ear, running along the curve of his jaw. But his flaring, cute nostrils suggested he could breathe in air unlike fish. It didn’t seem that mermaids would suffocate without water, well since they were half human it made sense.

Seongwoo caught his eye and then said something Daniel didn’t understand in the slightest bit it seemed to be a joke considering he chuckled to himself. The sound was a lot like a kitten’s purr from the depths of his throat, a pleasant, enticing sound. They looked at each other in comfortable silence for a moment, both smiling shyly and eying each other’s features up close, thinking the other was more attractive then and feeling this strange pull to each other, like they wanted to be closer.

Daniel reached for his hands, sliding down to grab his dainty wrists above the bracelets. His skin was cold and smooth, a lot less slimy than he thought and not at all scaly. Though he had no body hair whatsoever which was strange. He must be warm-blooded then.

Did his tail have bones? It was incredibly bendy with an exquisite, delicate curvy shape, sparkling and turning a more vibrant shade of blue in the light. He looked at the other apologetically once he realized what he’d done, touching him without permission.

“I just felt worried about you falling. Sorry, that was human instinct. Of course, you won’t get hurt falling into the water. You swim every day. You’re probably an amazing swimmer and not scared of the ocean like I am at all. Maybe it’s the fact that I’m a prince so I feel like I should protect all creatures.”

Seongwoo had been put on edge by the human grabbing him. However, his voice was like a soothing lullaby and he could see that he’d meant no harm. He let the warm touch continue. The hands felt nice, smooth and strong yet gentle.

He smiled wide at the human and told him ‘thank you’ in his language, which he couldn’t hope to have translated because it was a vague concept rather than a concrete thing they could gesture out. The human seemed burdened and shy at his staring. He looked out at the sea, turning a darker shade of pink.

_He is as cute as a seahorse!_

Seongwoo had a great idea and acted on it. To say thank you, he planted his lips lightly on his cheek, a way that was sometimes a greeting or way of thanking and casual affection in his kingdom.

The boy’s eyes widened, one of his hands going to cover his lower face. Seongwoo watched his amusing reaction, thinking the human was really the cutest, a sweet smile on his face. His arms hurt a bit because he wasn’t the best at holding up his own weight. The prince held his arms, helping him climb up higher until he was hanging over the railing while resting his tail on the boat’s floor. Seongwoo felt grateful for it.

“Must be nice to have legs…” he commented enviously.

The blonde jerked his head sharply his way, eyes widened like he’d seen a shark. “What did you say?”

“I said….wait. What?” Now Seongwoo’s eyes were as huge as a blown-up puffer fish after being poked with a piece of sharp coral. “Were you just talking to me?”

“Oh, my god! I can understand you!”

“You can speak my language since when? What’s going on?”

It wasn’t perfect but after the kiss, they were able to communicate in Seongwoo’s language. His level was of a kid’s, broken up and not with correct pronunciation but something clearly magical had happened. Prince Daniel was magically using his language!

“I don’t know…You can really understand me? I’m actually speaking your language?” Daniel said in mermish incredulously, his tone attractively deep still.

Seongwoo nodded excitedly, expression delightfully astounded. “Yes, you are! How are you doing it?”

“I’m not doing it consciously. It’s just sort of coming out on its own. I wonder if it’s…because of the princess Ariel…so she really was a mermaid…”

“Ariel? I know that name! She’s in our legends. She died from a broken heart and became bubbles. The prince that she loved married a human princess in front of her eyes. Well, to be fair, she couldn’t talk to him because she traded her voice for legs and she never confessed to him. That was stupid of her. She could have attempted to stop the wedding.”

Daniel’s brain looked on the verge of exploding. His face was scrunched as he listened to the rapid, excited sounds coming from Seongwoo that he shouldn’t be able to understand.

“Huh…I seriously understood like 90% of that. This is too weird…”

“Why weird? It’s amazing! Thing’s just got so much easier. Miming is tiring.”

“Weirdness aside. Is that what your kingdom believes?”

“Yes. Why? Is it wrong?” Seongwoo’s expression brightened, his eyes twinkling. He loved to hear stories and especially he wished that that particular tale had a different ending.

“The tale in my kingdom does not end nearly as tragic. She married the prince herself. Who was my great, great, great many more greats grandfather. She was one of the queens of our land. She was supposedly abandoned or cut off from her family in your kingdom though.”

“Ah, that’s why! I’ve got it, Daniel!”

Daniel flushed, biting back a smile. He really liked the way that his name sounded in this language. Everything sounded musical, sweet, and romantic to him all of a sudden. As if they were speaking in songs or poetry. How strange but fascinating.

“Your tale must be true. Your ancestor was our princess, Ariel! You have royal mermaid blood in you! When I kissed you, it must have gotten activated. Awakened. Not sure what to call it. You had dormant merman powers.”

“Ah, is that so? I suppose it is possible, though I must have a really miniscule bit…”

“Hmm. I think you have more than you think. You’re really handsome and you sort of glow especially when you smile and your hair is the same color as Ariel’s was.”

“I thought it was red?”

“No, I’m pretty sure it was golden like the sun or fallen treasure…”

“Oh, was it? We don’t have any portraits left from that time and I’ve only seen sketches of the way she looked. She was beautiful. Well, nothing compared to you, of course…”

Seongwoo giggled, smiling sweetly and feeling flattered.

“We’re all beautiful, I suppose. The ones that are from the palace especially. That share royal blood. It’s part of the pure blood powers of our line. Being able to sing and dance well, swimming fast, amazing agility, and being slightly more beautiful and shimmering than the average merperson.”

“Oh, so you’re royalty too?”

“Yes, I’m a prince.”

“Prince? Me too! I’m also a prince.”

“Oh, really? You should have told me!”

“I told you earlier. Prince Daniel.”

“Oh? I thought it was part of your name.”

Daniel laughed at Seongwoo’s pout and cute mistake. “No, my name is simply Daniel. You can call me that. Since we’re of the same status.”

“Alright. I’m Seongwoo…”

“Yes, I know.”

They both giggled, sharing in content, relaxed smiles. The felt oddly comfortable and familiar with each other considering they’d just met and only gained the ability to properly communicate a couple of minutes ago.

“I have lots of things I’m curious about. If you have time to chat.”

“I do. I don’t have an interest in the noisy going ons upstairs.”

“That was what I was going to ask you. What are you doing here? Why those sky flowers? Are humans usually this noisy?”

“No, we’re not usually this noisy. It’s a party. My birthday party. I just turned sixteen years old.

“Oh, really? Happy birthday! I’m seventeen years old. I’m older.”

“Ah, you are? Then I shouldn’t call you Seongwoo but Seongwoo hyung in my land. Anyway, continuing on. The noise you hear is music and laughter. Humans get like this at a party. The sky flowers are called fireworks. Though you wouldn’t know what fire is certainly since it cannot exist with water around. It’s really hot lights that explode in the sky and are dyed different colors.”

“Hmm, I don’t know what fire is but those fireworks are lovely. They’re possibly the prettiest thing I’ve ever seen.”

“I guess they don’t have mirrors down there? Or they don’t work under water?”

Seongwoo snorted and lightly slapped his hand. Daniel impulsively flipped his hand over and caught hold of the merman’s hand before he could draw it away. They stared at their white and tan hands grasped together, almost the same size and shape, both wearing shy smiles.

“Did you just flirt with me?”

Daniel wasn’t sure what that word meant but he said that he did anyway because he made a guess at the meaning. He’d somehow wanted to let the other know honestly that he was interested in him and thought he was the prettiest creature in the universe.

Seongwoo’s other hand reached out to cradle his jaw and then he swooped in. Daniel couldn’t stop him even if he’d wanted to. The merman had some sort of enchanting hold over him, causing him to pull in closer.

Their lips brushed softly together for a fleeting moment. They were as smooth as silky and slightly warmer than his hands felt and their shape was lovely. When Seongwoo pulled away to judge his reaction, Daniel appeared startled. Then he ducked his head, flushing deeply, feeling extremely shy.

“That was my first kiss…”

Seongwoo admitted with a giggle, “It was mine as well. I’ve never kissed someone intimately on the lips but I had this sudden urge for that right to go to you.”

At least it wasn’t unpleasant and Seongwoo was incredibly beautiful. He’d once read that if you kissed a mermaid, they would steal your soul and then drag you into the depths of the ocean. To drown you and feed you to their sea animal minions.

He wasn’t sure what was stolen from him but there was definitely something weird going on inside of his chest. His heart kept racing, he felt all fuzzy and tingly and so very warm all over, his stomach felt like a monkey was flipping inside, swinging on his intestines. He didn’t feel like himself.

“Does that mean something in your kingdom, Daniel? I’m sorry if I’ve gotten you into trouble.”

“No, it’s not like it’s sacred. Like I can’t ever kiss someone else or it means we have to get married. It’s not all that important. What about for you though?”

“To me? Well, to us, kissing is quite common. For various occasions and different meanings. Though it’s the first time I’ve kissed anyone on the lips…”

“Oh, is that so? So, you’re used to kissing and it means nothing.”

“Of course it means something! I haven’t kissed on the lips because it’s supposed to be with someone I might like. Are you sulking? Are you perhaps jealous that my lips have been on others?”

“No, I’m not!”

“You are~”

“Don’t tease me. Do you know who I am? I’m the crown prince of—”

He was cut off by Seongwoo threading his hand into Daniel’s golden hair and giving him a breath-taking kiss, this time making it firmer and longer-lasting. They switched the position of their heads, kissing several times and humming sweetly. It was such an incredible feeling, even more so because the person it was with was so exotic and practically a stranger they felt an odd sense of attachment to.

They were forced to break away when footsteps were heard approaching. Daniel held his hand, helping Seongwoo dip back into the water by instinct. They released hands reluctantly, for several seconds reaching out in the air with a small gap between their fingers, their expressions worried and reluctant to part.

“Prince Daniel? Where are you?”

The person was looking for him. He moved into the shadows as Seongwoo swam over, holding on to the rescue tube that he’d been hiding behind earlier. Regrettably they couldn’t see each other so well in the shadows, though their eyes never strayed from the other and they could feel their sadness and anxiousness somehow.

Daniel bent down as far off the railing as he could to whisper, “You have to go. Beware of humans in the future. Not all are kind and curious like me. You can’t just go up to any random boat.”

“I won’t. I know of some of your people’s ignorance and cruelty. I have never approached a boat until today. I’m banned from it. But I want to see you again. How will that be possible? All boats look the same…”

“I’ll search for you in a smaller boat when there’s less people. It’s rare for boats to be out at night. Tomorrow. If you can come to the surface in this spot tomorrow, I’ll be there, waiting and looking for you.”

“Alright. You can use the bracelet. If I’m nearby, then—”

Daniel interrupted him when he sensed the person getting nearer. “Go, Seongwoo! Go now! Swim safely!”

The thought of Seongwoo being captured and harm terrified him. He’d just made friends with a sweet merman that he could learn so much from. The gorgeous, charming person who had his first kiss. The only person that he’d ever felt interested in or made his heart flutter. Seongwoo was suddenly very important to him and he wanted to keep him protected.

With a splash and the outline of his flickering tail, Seongwoo dove into the water and out of sight. Just in time for the man, who peered over the edge and asked who Daniel was talking to. The prince said that as usual he was merely talking to himself and then promised he’d return to the party since it was rude to leave his guests.

The whole night his eyes went to the dark, still water and his mind replayed his incredible encounter with a beautiful merman.


	2. Bittersweet Eighteen

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's not as easy to meet as the princes from different worlds had planned. Years go by without a single encounter. They've both just about given up hope.

Daniel came across the mermaid the next night by some rocks underneath a cliff, some ways off from where they’d met previously. He’d paid the driver of the boat to stay silent about whatever he saw, promising him much success for him his family and future generations as long as he assisted him with this manner.

Seongwoo was resting against a slanted rock, his shimmering blue-green tail partially in the water, translucent, flimsy tips twitching gracefully in the air, his cheek laying on his arm which seemed to be decorated with less accessories than before. He raised one hand to wave, a sweet, welcoming smile on his ethereal face. The prince smiled broadly and waved enthusiastically with both hands from the front of the small boat before instructing the boatman to drop him off there and pick him up when he signaled with the flare he had brought along in his pocket.

“W-woah~” Daniel stumbled as he attempted to cross the rocks to get from where the boat dropped him off to where Seongwoo was.

In a flash, the merman had dived into the water and popped up at his side, all glistening pearly skin, midnight hair, pretty green eyes, and gorgeous smiles. He reached out his hand and held Daniel’s elbow, righting his tilted body before he crashed into the water. Daniel planted his feet and then collapsed onto his bottom. His knees were too wobbly after his near fall, his heart thundering from the scare.

“T-thanks, I thought I was gonna die there,” he huffed.

Seongwoo gently folded his arms over the edge of the rock, sharp chin resting on top, his head slightly tilted, some strands of wet hair falling across his enchanting eyes.

“Why would you die from falling such a short distance?”

“I wouldn’t. It’s just a figure of speech.”

“Hmm, strange.”

“Eh, I’m sure you have lots of strange expressions as well.”

“Possibly. I can’t think of any off the top of my head. Were you scared because you can’t swim well?”

“No, I think it’s just the idea of falling into the water. It’s so dark and I can’t see anything. I don’t know what’s down there. What might be lurking to bite me or what sharp object might be there to cut me. That’s what scares me. The unknown.”

“It’s…hard for me to understand.”

The merman looked apologetic. Daniel smiled with reassurance, impulsively reaching out to fix his hair because it was bothering him with how it was tickling his face and dripping water down his perfectly sculpted nose.

“There, that’s better.”

Seongwoo smiled shyly, pressing up into Daniel’s hand as he smoothed his hair. Daniel lingered there a moment, mouth gaping and eyes not blinking. He was too surprised and enchanted by the other’s beauty. He couldn’t believe he’d been bold enough to do that, so intimately touch another when he never touched anyone.

It wasn’t easy for him to touch anyone even if he tried now except for his cats because it was something he wasn’t used to. His parents hadn’t been physical with him since he was a toddler, insisting it would make him soft and weak. Also, it was tradition that no one was permitted to touch the prince without permission, even his handmaidens. He’d never once touched someone out of impulse as long as he could remember. He’d never even had an urge to.

Seongwoo was different. He made him feel things that he’d never felt before. He wanted to see him up close and touch him and be touched. He wanted to lie next to him and hold his hand and talk all night long. He wanted to keep looking at his pretty face.

The prince hadn’t been able to get Seongwoo off his mind all day. He’d been so distracted that he’d been scolded by his teachers and then eventually given up on. They’d stormed out of the study room, telling the king and queen that the crown prince wasn’t well today so he should simply rest. Daniel had become free of his lessons halfway through the day, which was something to be ecstatic about. He’d spent the whole afternoon until nightfall in the library with every book he could find about mermaids, getting more nervous and excited as the minutes passed.

“Your hands…They are so warm and soft. I’ve never felt something like that.”

Daniel went to take his hand away, feeling embarrassed and conscious of them. Seongwoo captured his hand and put it against his cheek. Daniel’s face heated as the merman hummed with a sweet smile while brushing his cheek along his palm.

“I really like the feel. It’s so smooth. You touch so gently despite they are large and strong. How is it that you can control your power this well? The merman couldn’t dream of it.”

“I…um…well, I guess it’s because of my cats?”

“Hmm, what is a cat?”

“Well, you know of a catfish I suppose. They are a four-legged furry animal with whiskers like a catfish has. They are really cute, sweet, smart, and playful. Oh, they have really great balance too. Whenever they fall, they always manage to land on their feet and they can climb and perch on almost anything, even a thin tree branch or the top of a door.”

Seongwoo brightened like a pearl, eyes flashing with understanding. “Oh, that sounds incredible. So, your hands are gentle because your cats balance on them, is that it?”

“No, no, no~ Not even close.” Daniel couldn’t help but laugh because he hadn’t expected that answer at all.

Seongwoo pouted, not looking at all amused that the human was laughing at his ignorance. In his opinion, of course there was no way that he could have known everything, and he didn’t think it was nice since he’d never laugh at Daniel for assuming something about his world.

Daniel stifled his laughter and cleared his throat, pulling a serious face with great effort. He reached out to lightly pinch the other’s cheek which made him melt into a pretty smile again.

“What I mean is that I have to be careful when I play with them. They are really small and they get hurt easily. I think I learned from trial and error over the years how to control my strength when I touch them.”

“Hmm, do I remind you of them? I’m more like a catfish than a human?”

“Yeah, sort of? But your face and upper body is clearly human. I would forget you’re different if it weren’t for the way we’re talking now or the gills at your neck and your tail.”

Seongwoo hid it immediately deep into the water and covered his neck. Daniel laughed, watching the other with affection.

“There’s nothing great about being human, Seongwoo. You are far more special than we are. How useful it is to be able to breathe under water and swim quickly. You don’t need to rely on transportation or exert yourself by walking slowly and you have no worry about drowning. You can communicate with your people and marine animals even. That’s astounding!”

“Is it? I’ve never thought that way. Being able to have legs and walk and be still when you sleep. Feeling the sun and the wind all the time. Living above the water. That always sounded so much better to me.”

“I guess it’s just that our lives our interesting and our lands exotic because they’re vastly different. We want what we don’t have. That’s natural for any species of human I guess.”

The mermaid blurted, “What is it like to walk?”

Daniel was taken aback and didn’t know how to answer that. “Hmm, not sure how to describe it. Walking is just walking. You stand up on your feet and then you move them forward. Would you like to feel my legs?”

Seongwoo looked down at them sprawled across the flat top of the slanted rock Daniel was sitting on, wrapped in black cloth that looked warm and soft. His eyes showed eagerness. He gulped and nodded. Daniel pat the rock next to him.

“Come up here then. Do I need to hel—”

He gasped as Seongwoo sank down to his neck in the dark water and then wiggled his tail to spring himself up. He flew through the air, landing gracefully on the rock on his behind. His tail was bent in a wave formation. It was the first time that Daniel had ever seen the full thing.

His slender, milky waist with the toned abs blended with the blue and green effervescent scales of his tail from the point of his hips a hand’s width under his belly button. The affect was a soft change of color and texture like graduation. The shape of the scales grew and lengthened, the color deepening as you looked lower.

Like the shape of his thighs when pressed together, the tale curved in to taper in the middle, then it straightened out, similar to the shape of two legs put together but incredibly slender and delicate. The bottom abruptly spanned out into a curvy large triangular formation. The scales ended at the base of the triangle, turning into skin that was translucent and flimsy like a curtain, the color the lightest shade of pearlescent blue he’d ever seen.

What was interesting that once out of the water and under the direct shimmer of the moonlight, the tail turned more greenish than blue. It was the most beautiful thing he’d seen. No fish had ever inspired awe from him.

“Can I…”

Seongwoo bit his lip and fidgeted with the top of his tail, the part that looked like his thigh area.

“S-sure…”

They took turns touching each other’s different body part with gentle, hesitant hands. Seongwoo Daniel found out was ticklish and sensitive. He kept squirming and giggling whenever Daniel touched him, holding his wrist like he wanted to push him off. He pressed his hand closer instead, which seemed to lesson the ticklishness but it caused him to groan. He bit his lip, seeming embarrassed at the sound and trying to stop it. His eyes closed as Daniel stroked up and down his tail.

It was cool and smooth but not as much as his skin was. It was slightly warmer and rougher than that because of the scales and probably that most of his muscle was there since he used it to get around more than the rest of his body. He was surprised by how toned and firm it was because it looked more like it would be squishy like jello.

It felt like a fish but less slimy. He figured that merpeople must groom themselves that was why. Their tails must be their pride, judging by how clean and well-kept and glimmering they were.

Seongwoo’s breath was shaky as he muttered, “Daniel, stop…”

Daniel withdrew his hand with a guilty smile. “Hmm? Oh, alright. Sorry, it was fascinating, so I think I got carried away.”

“That’s fine. It feels weirder than I expected, having hands other than my own touching my tail. Your hands are so warm and soft even when you press harder. It makes me all hot and tingly somehow.”  


“Really? That’s weird. Your hands are cold and stronger than I expected. They look so fragile.”

“Do they? Interesting. Guess we’re full of opposites.”

Seongwoo laid on his side, looking at his hand with sudden interest as if he were seeing it for the first time. The shells he was wearing on his arm glistened, catching Daniel’s attention. He captured Seongwoo’s hand in his and brought it to the rock, his other hand playing with the uppermost bracelet wrapped around his slender, milky wrist. Seongwoo watched him with his lips parted and eyes widened cutely in surprise.

“These shells…Earlier they glowed. Right before I found you. They have special properties, don’t they?”

“Yes, they do. I wanted to tell you the other day but I didn’t get the chance. These shells are from an ocean far away in another land, a truly magical one. We collect them and use them in the palace only. It’s how royal people can find each other. It glows when we are near. As long as we think of that person while we’re searching for them. The person who gave them to us will cause them to work most effectively. I’m glad to hear that it worked.”

“It worked splendidly. Thank you for giving these to me. I’ll be able to find you again.”

“Yes, I suppose you will. If you ever have a need to.”

“Of course I have a need to. And that doesn’t matter so much. Even if I had no reason to see you I would still do so. Because I want to. I want to meet you many more times, Seongwoo. Let’s be friends and talk about everything in our lives and learn about the different worlds we come from. It will be better for our kingdom when you think about it. We can learn about new sorts of methods and correct the misconceptions our people have from warped history and—”

Seongwoo jumped forward, capturing the prince’s lips in the middle of speaking while they were pursed out. He sat back a few seconds later. Daniel was so flustered he hid his face in his hands afterwards. Seongwoo chuckled and nuzzled his forehead while brushing the back of his hands in a comforting gesture.

“Daniel, you don’t need to specify so many details. I don’t need any convincing. Of course, I want to meet you often and chat with you. I’d love that. You had me at ‘because I want to’ really. What shall we talk about first?”

“Hold on…give me a moment…” the blonde muttered, still overwhelmed by the kiss attack.

That kiss had been even more incredible and it was his second one ever. He sort of wished that Seongwoo would start giving him some warning beforehand because he became incapacitated and it was embarrassing.

“Are people down there so forward?”

“Yes, but this time that wasn’t a kiss in greeting. That was because I genuinely thought you were really cute. From one man to another. That kiss had a special meaning.”

“What meaning…well, maybe that’s not important…can we…do it again sometime…”

Seongwoo chuckled reaching up to brush the blonde strands of hair, amazed by the silky, warm feeling. He’d never touched anything dry besides the boat and some rocks. It was fascinating to feel the texture of things that were dry and not weathered down by the salt-water and wind like Daniel’s hair was. He couldn’t describe it since he’d never felt something like that. He didn’t have the words. Except that he could say that it felt nice and he kept wanting to touch it.

“Sure we can. Maybe you will get used to it but I hope that you wouldn’t because this reaction of yours afterwards is really funny.”

His whine turned to hums of contentment as Seongwoo’s cool, hesitant fingers carefully ran through his thick hair. It was so relaxing, his eye drifted shut. Daniel thought, ‘ah, so this is what my cats feel like, I’m about to purr and fall asleep, it’s so comforting…’

“Hyung….”

“Yes? Do you like this?”

“Hmm-hmm…”

“I do too. I’ll keep going for a while. Stay there.”

“O-okay…”

Seongwoo slid closer, nuzzling and kissing parts of his face around the hands that covered it, his fingers slowly stroking through the strands. Daniel’s face flamed, his skin tingled, and he kept his eyes shut.

They talked about a variety of things while resting on the rock, holding hands and looking up at the starry sky, the waves lightly lapping on the rocks sprinkling them with cool droplets. Daniel learned that Seongwoo was one of the many children of the merpeople king and that he was banned from interacting with humans, locked up in the palace by his protective father and their suffocating outdated rules for the royals only. Which was why he found a way to sneak out.

He wanted to learn about the world under and above the surface of the ocean with his own eyes instead of just books. He had an impressive range of knowledge and an incredibly sharp mind. He knew so many things about the world, even his own.

Daniel informed him what was true and what was fabricated myth since he had many things about humans that he was curious about. Seongwoo was able to recall things quickly and pick apart his words with a bunch of follow up questions and insightful reasonings.

Daniel wished that he was half as smart and able to memorize as Seongwoo. Then he could succeed quicker in his studies which would give him more time to play with his cats or explore outside the palace.

Seongwoo told him the basics of everything about how their kingdom worked and cleared up many myths. The things that the humans knew were mostly wrong. The merpeople were incredible. They were civilized and talented and ingenious. He couldn’t imagine a whole castle and life using tools made of natural objects in the water or being able to communicate with the various creatures of the ocean.

They had a rich diet, high intelligence, and gentle nature which he hadn’t expected. Their country could learn a lot from these people. He learned about how his own people were thoughtless and brought harm to the ocean which put many people endanger and would cause issues down the road for themselves.

The prince noted these things the best he could in his mind, promising that he would bring them up with the council and get people to investigate the goings on of those who worked and lived by the water so that things could be righted as quickly as possible. He was thankful to have met Seongwoo. He learned many things from him.

In return, Seongwoo asked that Daniel teach him about the human language, especially what things were called and properly used for. By describing what they looked like, Daniel could guess and then did his best to explain them and teach Seongwoo how to pronounce the word properly. He couldn’t speak his language as well as Daniel could speak his. But then again, he didn’t share blood or magical ancestry with the other species.

“I hate to go…”

“Me too, but the sun will be up soon…”

Seongwoo was in the water, clinging to Daniel’s neck and cradling his face. Daniel held his shoulders, attempting to press him lightly back into the water but Seongwoo refused to go. He’d bob back up with a swish of his tail, raising his head up so that their lips would clash lightly over and over again. They’d been in the process of saying goodbye for the past five minutes, kissing so many times they lost count.

“I suddenly hate the sun. I only like the moon.”

“It will go away before you know it. Just twelve hours or so.”

“That’s eleven hours too long.”

“I understand how you feel, but I’ll come again tomorrow or the next day. I’ll search for you. The bracelet will help me. I’ll find you again and we’ll spend the night together. I swear it.”

“I’ll come to this spot then, for now. To make things easier for you and not waste our time. When I can manage to sneak out. I might not be able to every night, but I will try. Look for me when you can. As long as this place isn’t discovered, then we can spend time here.”

“I will, don’t worry about that. I want to see you again as soon as possible and I have ways to get out here. You just worry about your secret tunnel not getting discovered. You should go back quickly.”

“Merpeople sleep in. there’s no reason to worry about being spotted.”

“They must sleep in because they stay up all night like you do.”

Seongwoo chuckled, stealing nips at the other’s swollen, red lips he couldn’t get enough of. They were like that because he was ruthless. Seongwoo was a kissing addict it seemed. Not that Daniel would complain. He realized why it was fun only that night and was enthusiastically making up for his lack of physical affection with anyone. It was exciting, electrifying. What was interesting was that Seongwoo’s lips and tongue remained chill no matter what they did for how long like his body was magically cooled. They were sweet and salty and incredibly smooth.

“Seongwoo, let go of me…” He laughed with exasperation as the merman again refused to stay in the water.

Seongwoo giggled with a mischievous grin. “Never. I will never let go of my prince Daniel. You’re mine now.”

“If only…” Daniel sighed softly as he succumbed to another kiss.

“I hate you! Don’t talk to me! First chance I get I’m leaving this place! I’d rather live on my own then under a tyrant!”

Seongwoo shouted at his father and then swam to his room. He was sobbing before he’d even managed to curl up in his clam shell bed covered with fluffy layers of marine plants. The seahorses and crabs and fish in his room swam over the curled up, wailing merman, rubbing up against his arms and tail in order to comfort their friend.

Seongwoo lifted his head and attempted to smile at them. “No, I’m not sick, guys. It’s just that…Dad found out and I’m in trouble. I’m not allowed to talk to Daniel ever again. He won’t believe me that Daniel is special and that humans can be kind. He’s as stubborn as all the other previous kings have been for generations. It’s an ugly cycle. If only I were the one chosen to take over but I doubt that would ever happen. Since I’m unusual and not obedient and I study about humans more than necessary.”

He sighed and sniffled, laying back on his arms. “What do I do? Seeing him is the happiest thing going in my life. I miss him already. I can’t go on not seeing him, but I don’t think it’s right to really leave the palace. I should find a way to change father’s mind…”

The previous night, Jihoon had seen him leave the palace and followed him. He was the one that had told their father about the human he was meeting secretly and the tunnel leading out of his room. His father had had it blocked with rocks and set guards near his room on all walls. Knowing his overprotective, distrusting father, he’d have some of the fastest, strongest merman guards tailing him everywhere he went the next several weeks. He had no hope of sneaking out to meet Daniel anytime soon.

There was a knock on the door and someone poked his head in. It was his little brother Jihoon, the cause of his misery. Seongwoo glared at him.

“This is because of you! Couldn’t you just let me be! I didn’t raise my little brother to be a rat!”

“Sorry, hyung…I was just worried. He might do something to you or someone bad might see you. I would rather risk your wrath for the rest of my life than learn that you became a trophy in the land-walkers’ house.”

“Don’t make them sound like monsters! They are simply people who have legs and fins, Jihoon! They are no different than us. Some are bad just as not all merpeople are good. The human that I was meeting is good, so very good, Jihoon. You have no idea. He’s the sweetest, kindest, smartest, most caring, funniest, selfless, innovative, and gentle person in this sea and above of it. He’s amazing. Someday, he will be the king above the surface and he’s going to change the world. And you’re breaking his heart and mine by getting in the way of it.”

“That’s another thing, hyung. You might have good feelings for each other now but he has to marry a human and you have to marry a merperson. You can’t live only seeing each other at night your entire lives. You have responsibilities, especially if he’s the only son of the king there. You’ll get your heartbroken and turn to foam.”

“That’s not true! It’s just a myth. It’s made up. Daniel says that according to their stories Ariel married her prince and lived in the palace as a human.”

“But it was hundreds of years ago. You can’t say that his story is true either.”

“I ….”

Seongwoo drifted off. The idea bothered him like when a sea urchin took shelter in his bed. He didn’t know which tale was truth. Since there were no official records that long ago. Back then there had been no way to record things since there was no systematic written form of their languages. Daniel had admitted that. Seongwoo simply believed Daniel’s version because he wanted to.

The thought of turning into bubbles was terrifying, on top of what a broken heart would feel like. He would be a hundred times sadder than now if his first love said he was going to leave him for another.

Jihoon slid over while Seongwoo was distracted and disheartened. He sat along the edge, his coral collared fin flowing gracefully off the edge. Seongwoo tensed but didn’t brush his hands off when he rubbed his arms.

“Seongwoo hyung, I’m sorry. I did this for your sake. Meeting a human could be potentially dangerous.”

Seongwoo scoffed. “Well, so is living under the ocean where sharks frequent twice a year. Shall we run away from that or stop going out to swim? You’re speaking nonsense. That’s just being cowardly.

We need a change. There’s an entire civilization outside of the sea, Jihoon. Think of how much better our life could be, how much freer we would feel if we could go to the surface and interact, learn a new language and devices and ways of living?

There’s so much that we’re missing out on by sticking to this old-fashioned way of thinking that all humans are bad and out to capture and harm us. If that were the case, they’d be actively going about it and there’d be less fish in the ocean as well. They aren’t all evil and greedy as they’re made out to be.

Daniel’s told me lots of things and I trust him. He thinks that humans someday could understand and respect us instead of fear or not believe in us. We need to make ourselves more present. His father has to meet with ours and form an agreement, that way we’re guaranteed on both sides not to be harmed.”

Jihoon shook his head with a gloomy, uncertain expression at Seongwoo’s pleas.

“As reasonable as that sounds, it’s too radical, Seongwoo hyung. Father and the rest of the royal merpeople won’t be ready for that in our lifetime I doubt. There’s many more conservatives that don’t like change or want to take risks. Work on changing them first, using the knowledge you gained. Create a shell-book and present about it. Show that humans have a better side we aren’t yet informed of. Change their minds gradually so that the balance is shifted. Only if you do that, things might change. Then father might let you leave the palace.”

Seongwoo groaned with frustration and strangled the seaweed under his palms. Fresh tears filled his eyes, the larger ones gathering at the corners and forming into pearls that rolled off onto the ocean floor. The marine animal friends gathered it so that he might make jewelry with it later which was his new hobby to pass the time between meetings with Daniel.

Eyes quivering, voice hysterical, he said, “I can’t stay here for years, Jihoon. I have to get out. He’s waiting for me.”

Jihoon smirked bitterly. “Surely he won’t wait longer than a few days. Once he sees that you aren’t anywhere to be seen, then he will give up coming and he will forget about you. Aren’t humans famous for being fickle?”

“Meanie! Do you want me to turn into bubbles?” Seongwoo griped, slapping his brother’s upper tail and then collapsing to the bed with more tears spilling out.

“I thought you didn’t believe in that, hyung.”

He sobbed out, “I don’t.”

“You don’t disbelieve it though.”

He sobbed harder, choking out, “Shut up. You’re so annoying.”

“I’m so lovably annoying, you mean.”

Jihoon giggled and tickled the other’s waist. The sensitive merman squirmed, fighting back a laugh and looking thoroughly annoyed. At least his crying and sniffling eventually ceased stopped thanks to his cute yet bratty brother. Seongwoo didn’t truly hate him or his father. He was just frustrated at the entire situation.

Of course, anyone would have done the same for their family member, to protect them. They didn’t know Daniel or any other human personally. This was the fault of Ariel’s father that had put the ban on and hadn’t clearly stated what had ever happened with her. Things naturally had become this way and it was going to be difficult and timely to fix. He didn’t have time though because he was afraid that Daniel might really give up or forget him. He might think that Seongwoo had lost interest in him or was planning to marry a mermaid princess so wasn’t going to their spot anymore.

Seongwoo sighed, laying back with his little brother curled up against him, brushing the other’s sandy hair. They occasionally fell asleep talking in bed until late hours of the night.

Jihoon was a good kid. In actuality, he was Seongwoo’s favorite and closest sibling. He didn’t think any of his other dozens of brothers or sisters would have come to his room to apologize for tattling on him for being disobedient. Jihoon was the only one who seemed to have a caring nature. The fact that he clearly felt bad and he was scared to lose favor with his hyung made it impossible for Seongwoo to be harsh with him.

“I wouldn’t have told on you if I’d known that you loved him this much, hyung. I figured you just met him once or twice out of curiosity.”

“Well, that’s not the case. Actually, Daniel is a very special person to me. We’ve met many times. He’s part merman. He can speak our language. We’ve been teaching each other about our kingdoms and people and culture. I can speak some human now. Like that is called sand, this is called water, we live in the ocean, we sleep on a bed, and many other things.”

“Oh, so he’s like your teacher…I’m sorry, hyung. I know how much you like to learn about the la—the humans.”

Seongwoo smiled gratefully at his change in words. Calling them human instead of land-walkers sounded more respectful and correct. It was more pleasant to his ears as well. They were not cruel monsters. They were misjudged, complex, very intelligent people that the merpeople should respect instead of fear.

“It’s alright. I’ll find a way to see him again. Somehow, someday. Our relationship isn’t something so easily broken by being separated a few days.”

Somewhere along the next two years, Seongwoo had a change of heart. Daniel searched for him but not always on the days that he was able to sneak out with Jihoon’s help to get to the surface. He didn’t always go to the rocks, seeming like he’d given up there after the first few weeks when Seongwoo hadn’t been able to find a way out until months later and it wasn’t possible to be done frequently. Seongwoo had difficulty finding his boat at night and the couple of times that he’d discovered it, he chickened out at the last minute from approaching it. Something plagued him after his talk with Jihoon.

It wasn’t likely that him and Daniel could be together. Things weren’t going so well as he would like convincing those at the palace that humans weren’t dangerous. They didn’t believe his explanations as they didn’t trust the source, thinking Daniel must have some hidden agenda, using Seongwoo as a trap. There was no way that Seongwoo’s father would approve of his friendship let alone a relationship with him.

In that case, it might be better not to see him again. He was only risking hurting Daniel and who knew what would happen if he had his heart broken. If he stayed realistic and didn’t fall in love with the human more, maybe he could save himself a lot of pain or death. He wasn’t much good to Daniel if he died before he changed the merpeople’s way of thinking towards humans.

He terribly wanted to see Daniel though, so he watched him from a distance, longing tearing him up inside. The prince travelled the sea in a small boat, using the bracelet as his guide. He’d get excited when it glowed, showing that Seongwoo was nearby. Seongwoo literally shivered as he battled intensely with himself to slip out of hiding and approach him.

You miss him. You love him. Just go see him for a day. Even a few minutes. Think about the consequences later. You might be worrying for nothing. He must love you a lot too if he’s still here searching after all this time. At least you can just talk to him. Even if you gave your heart away, it’s a worth risk taking. Daniel will take care of it. He’ll cherish you. You can find a way to be together someday. He’s a nice person. He won’t tire or give up on you. It’s not his style.

Don’t go. Not yet anyway. Wait a bit more. You can hold off another day. It’s good enough to simply see that he’s doing well. Once things get better and you have your feelings properly in control, it’s then safer to approach him and talk as you wish. Not as risky. You won’t be good to anyone dead.

You have to protect your heart, first and formost. You have to protect his as well. You don’t have your feelings under control yet. You need to be realistic. It will be hard on you both if you have a taste of what you can’t keep. Things aren’t possible for you both to be together the way you want and they might never be. You can only be friends. Once you accept that, you can approach him.

He’d swim closer and then far away repeatedly as his conflicted thoughts both with logical reasoning tempting him appeared.

The crown prince as usual searched for two hours in the middle of the night. Though the bracelet glowing showed him the area to search, Seongwoo never appeared. He wasn’t sure if the thing was broken or if Seongwoo was for some reason hiding from him. If he was, he was exceptionally good at it and Daniel hadn’t the foggiest idea why he would.

He recalled that they had parted on good terms the last time they had met, promising to see each other a couple of days later at their usual spot. Seongwoo had never showed and since then, a year had passed and Daniel had not once seen even a flash of bluish green or pale skin. He sighed and tossed the bracelet to the floor, glaring at it through teary eyes.

“Shall we turn around, prince?”

Daniel nodded. He sniffled as his eyes tiredly searched the dark water as they had thousands of times now. He sensed nothing inside of it, as usual, which was frustrating. If he weren’t scared of the ocean, he would have gone in with a tank and flippers to dive deep and search for him.

Sometimes he had this irrational fear that Seongwoo was being held captive or stuck or even dead and he was waiting for Daniel to save him. He hated himself for not having the ability or the courage to attempt that. He was still scared of the ocean even after Seongwoo had told him such wonderful things about what lied in the depths, especially the splendid palace.

However, Daniel had no hopes of being able to see within anyway. Seongwoo had special eyes and fins and gills. He could swim far and fast and breathe underwater and see things a hundred times clearer.

Once they had both put their faces in the water. Daniel hadn’t been able to see a thing while Seongwoo was able to count the number of debris and bubbles as well as explain the colors of all the creatures that he could see under the rocks and along the bottom. It was incredible to him. He envied that ability more than being able to walk which was what Seongwoo wished to experience.

Sometimes he had talked of finding a sea witch but Daniel told him that he mustn’t. He couldn’t stand the idea of not being able to hear the other’s lovely voice or talk to him. Seongwoo was the only person in the world that he talked to regularly. Nowadays he was basically sulky, melancholy, and mute. He spent more time staring out the ocean, thinking of the merman and missing him than he did studying or playing with his cats or looking up things about the ocean world.

What happened to you, Seongwoo? Are you really here? Or is there something I’m missing? I want to see you again, even a glance from a distance. I want to know that this bracelet isn’t broken. That you are at least alive and well. What I wouldn’t give for a glimpse of a piece of your tail even…

Two years went by and Daniel continued to search, though not as frequent and with gradually dying hope. His obsession with the sea grew. His studies failed because he couldn’t concentrate. His mind was always on the moments that he shared with Seongwoo, wondering what he’d done wrong or what might have happened.

He was sure that Seongwoo was alive but hiding from him for some reason. Several more times he’d used the bracelet in different areas, but he never spotted him oddly. He’d even desperately gone into the sea with goggles and a flashlight and a rope the captain held to tug him in with. He’d practiced swimming and faced his fears of the deep, dark water but still had no success in spotting anything that particular shade of blue he was searching for.

No matter the days that passed, he couldn’t get Seongwoo off of his mind. He’d lost interest in his cats and his appetite as well. He’d grown skinnier, though the princesses that visited him during balls set up by his parents to find him a suiter he fancied seemed to love him all the more for that. They giggled and squealed noisily about how handsome he was.

The only compliment he’d ever taken to heart or been affected by was from Seongwoo, and he’d been in the dark and unadorned like he was at the balls. It was more sincere and meaningful to him. He could recall the way that he’d said it in both languages. Seongwoo had used to love observing and touching his face with this pretty, sweet smile, saying that he was handsome and cute.

The prince hated that overtime the voice in his mind didn’t sound as clear. He was scared that even his memories would fade away eventually, so he desperately grasped at them. He’d took to writing down and drawing out everything he remembered, re-reading it each night before he slept, then dreaming of Seongwoo nearly every night.

This gave him some minimal but necessary sense of ease so that he at least slept four to five hours a night and felt like eating breakfast the next day, though half as much as what he would have normally consumed at sixteen years old. At least he wouldn’t forget Seongwoo anytime soon. He held on to his sanity by clinging to his first love and a smidgen of hope this way.

How long has it been since I saw him? I’ve lost track of the days since it’s not easy to see the passage of time with the rise and fall of the moon and sun from the depths of the ocean in the walls of the palace. He looks older, skinnier, and more mature.

He’s even more dashing than usual but why is he so serious? I wish that I could see him smile. I miss his smile the most. I can’t talk to him but at least I could see that and know that he’s doing well. I wish that he’d be happy without me. That he’d forget me.

Seongwoo had all but given up on convincing the royals. They simply wouldn’t see reason. They were stubbornly sticking their heads in a conch shell even though they knew they shouldn’t merely because that was what they were most comfortable with.

The merman had given up on approaching Daniel as well. He didn’t want to give the other hope or risk falling harder for him when there wasn’t much chance for them to have a future together. He didn’t want to see the disappointment in his face up close. It was better that Daniel thought that he’d lost interest in him. Then he could live his life and Seongwoo could watch from a distance.

It had been weeks since Seongwoo had seen Daniel’s boat. So, he’d snuck away from his guards and swam to the surface close to the walls of the palace. He found a place with tall grass and trees that he could rest in the shade and his greenish tail blended with the color of the grass well. There he watched the goings on of the humans in the palace.

Sometimes he saw Daniel for a brief moment, walking by or leaning against the wall, looking over the ocean. He was easy to spot because of his blonde hair. That day there was an unusual amount of people. He saw Daniel in all white talking to a girl in frilly white clothes with a thin-slitted net over her head. She had curly black hair that draped down her back like waves.

Seongwoo immediately didn’t like her. She was almost as pretty as a mermaid and she was holding Daniel’s hands and smiling brightly at him. They were standing in front of a strangely dressed person with a funny, puffed out hat and a thick book in his hands. The humans gathered to watch clapped. Seongwoo gasped as Daniel kissed the girl and then they walked down, linking arms while the people cheered and tossed colored paper and flowers over them.

Daniel…did he just get married? Am I witnessing a human style wedding ceremony right now? My crush is…married to a human now?

“No…Daniel wouldn’t…even if he’s not searching for me these days, he wouldn’t have already given up and found someone to marry…he’s still so young and we had something special…Turn around, Daniel. Give me some sign. It’s not true, right…It can’t be. You wouldn’t…”

Seongwoo had his hands clutched tightly, tears pooling in his eyes, his breath held and throat burning. He stared hard at Daniel’s back but the prince never turned back to look out at the ocean like he usually would. He only had his eyes on the people and the girl at his side at that moment. The two turned to each other and smiled. It was that smile that Seongwoo adored and cherished. The one that had only been reserved for him. The one that was so bright and sweet and full of…

“Love. He loves her…He doesn’t love me anymore….He’s finally forgotten about me…”

Seongwoo jumped into the ocean, not wanting to see anymore. It was what he’d wanted and what he’d known was coming but he couldn’t possibly stomach the horror of it. He swam anxiously against the waves but he found it unusually difficult. He didn’t seem to go any further than the surface no matter how much he thrashed. He felt as if something was wrong with his tail. It wasn’t working properly—no, he couldn’t feel the end of it.

He turned around to see if it was caught in something. His hand covered his face as sobs ripped through him and his tears blurred and stung his eyes. His tail was disintegrating at an alarming rate, scales replaced by small, white bubbles. The swarm of bubbles rapidly crawled up his body, making his tail seem like it was being consumed in frothy waves.

Rather than being painful, it tickled. He closed his eyes and sobbed into his hands, resigning himself to his fate. There was nothing that he could do. The ticklish feeling was up to his waist in seconds. The cool water even couldn’t sooth the burning ache coming from his chest and throat as cries ripped through his body, making the ocean water quiver like an earthquake had hit. The sharp, panicked sounds scared the marine life away or caused them to hide, buried in the sand or rocks at the bottom.

The merman continued to scream hysterically, mourning the loss of his lover, suffering his first ever broken heart. He choked out Daniels name in panic and longing as the bubbles approached his upper chest.

Once his heart was reached, the beautiful, distressed merman was completely still and silent. The bubbles continued to rapidly consume his body, swirling and disappearing with the foam from the crashing waves, eventually becoming water that dispersed and lapped the palace walls. He became a part of nature.

Seongwoo’s last thoughts were of self-hatred before his death. Why had he went all this time not approaching Daniel when the prince was still thinking of him and searching for him? He had done this to himself. It had been vain of him to assume that Daniel would love him forever without seeing him somehow, that he wouldn’t love him much as long as he didn’t talk to him, that things would be better for them to stay apart.

He had been careless and cowardly and stupid. If only he had let Daniel at least see him and been honest with his own feelings from several years ago, this wouldn’t have happened. Maybe someday that could have been him next to the prince. If only he’d done a better job at convincing his people. If only he’d made it so that Daniel continued to be helplessly in love with him as he was for the prince.

He had been fooling himself trying to control his feelings. By the time that he’d attempted to, it had already gone out of control, he realized. He had been helplessly in love with the human prince for who knew how long. He realized everything much too late to fix anything. The merman prince died in vain, full of regrets that seeped into the ocean and tainted the water with sadness and bitterness like pollution.

“Ahhhh! Daniel~ He…lp… Ha…ha…ha….”

Seongwoo screamed and shot up on his bed. He panted, looking over and patting his body with desperation and then more slowly in relief. He wasn’t fading away in distress near the surface. He was insead in his room, resting on his clam shell bed. His body was fully intact, his fin as shiny, solid, and blue as ever.

“A dream…I’m alive still…oh, thank Poseidon…”

He sighed and laid back on his seaweed bed staring up at the clam shell canopy with its alluring, effervescent purple sheen. It took him several minutes and deep breaths until he’d calmed down and gotten his heartbeat under control.

“I need to see Daniel again. I can’t let that happen. He needs to know how I feel. I have to give him a reason not to give up. I should be positive. It’s not impossible that things won’t get better in the future. I should meet him or at least let him see me, so he has some hope and knows that I’m still thinking of him. Or I might just turn to bubbles. Who knows? There better not be any princess in his future though. I’ll feed her to the sharks,” Seongwoo growled, a venomous dark feeling swirling about him.

He might not be able to be with Daniel right now but he wasn’t going to let him slip away and go into the arms of anyone else. He loved him and losing him would break his heart and be unimaginably painful. He desired to be with him some day.

The dream had helped the merman prince realize that he’d already fallen hopelessly in love and given his heart away to the human prince. There was no helping it. If he wanted to not be miserable, he was going to have to stop being a coward and hiding from the prince.

The next time that he searched, Seongwoo vowed that he would show himself, if not meet up with him. The idea was nerve-wracking. It had been so long. Would they still get along? Would they still be able to communicate well? Would Daniel be angry at him? Well, anything was alright as long as Daniel hadn’t forgotten about him.

“I should get Jihoon to help me out. He owes it to me. Little brat.”

Daniel hadn’t been planning on going out to sea that night, but he had this strange inkling. It felt like he’d had some lucky potion by accident. Things just seemed like they would go well today. So, like he’d done hundreds of times before, he sent a message to his trusty boatman. Then, around one in the morning, they went out into the water in the usual areas.

Daniel held the bracelet, glancing between it and the surface. He stayed there for two hours, his hand and eyes tired since he wasn’t used to doing this regularly anymore and the crushing sense of hopelessness washed over him faster than normal. The bracelet didn’t change color or even flash a bit brighter.

He sighed, dropping his hand to his knee and staring gloomily at the water near the spot with the moon reflected on the ebbing, rippling, glistening waves.

“What did you expect? He’s done with you. He’s probably found a merman prince that’s smarter and funnier and more handsome. He’s probably sleeping soundly after a date watching fish and frolicking in the cool water and coral that looks so vibrant to his special, pretty green eyes. Maybe they’re even sleeping together.”

His heart ached at the thought. As if someone were pricking it with needles. The scene in front of him blurred as tears filled his eyes.

Seongwoo…What on Earth happened to you? Are you truly avoiding me? Why? You didn’t really meet someone else, did you…Couldn’t you at least show yourself once?

“Did you see that?”

“What? Was there something there?” Daniel asked, half with hope it was Seongwoo and half with fear of it being something else.

Nessy could be real or sharks with two heads. Who knew what to believe or not anymore?

“I saw something moving. It was a weird shade of green and it sort of sparkles. It moved fast too.”

Daniel hurriedly looked down and opened his hand. He smiled wide, his heart picking up speed. The bracelet was glowing. Seongwoo was here. He was close by. He wasn’t hiding anymore. He put the bracelet in his pocket and rushed to the edge of the boat, leaning precariously over.

For a split second, he saw him. By the rocks where they used to meet what felt like bittersweet, hazy lifetimes ago. Only Seongwoo looked almost exactly the same, though it was hard to tell from this distance. He smiled softly and then dived back under, a flash of white and blueish green. The boatman pointed towards the tail flickering into the water.

“Wasn’t that a mermaid? It’s a big, green tail!”

“Hmm, I saw it as small and grey though. Looks like a dolphin to me. You must be tired. Or it looks different from other there.”

Daniel bit back his excitement, eyes swimming with happy tears. He tried to get a glimpse of Seongwoo swimming and he swore he could see his tail shimmering under the water, as if he were doing figure eights in front of the boat. The old boatman shivered with fear.

“We should go, my prince. It’s not safe here. I’ve got a bad feeling about this area and that thing.”

“It’s completely safe. Take me to the rocks.”

“I don’t think we should.”

In his hurry to go amidst their argument, the boat tipped on Daniel’s side the same time that a larger wave jostled. Daniel found himself flailing before he crashed into the water. He tried to calm his growing panic. He had practiced swimming and he wasn’t so scared of the ocean now. He’d swum in it a couple of times before in the hope of seeing Seongwoo below the surface or attracting him with the glowing bracelet. He just needed to get to the boat which was much closer than the rocks. He wasn’t confident that he could swim that far.

“Prince Daniel! The tube! Grab the tube!” called the boatman in dire destress.

Daniel tried to swim towards the floating tube. Waves beat him to it, taking it farther away and pushing down over his head, tugging at his feet which felt like they had rocks attached to them. Several times he scrambled to the rolling surface by fiercely kicking and paddling his arms only to be shoved under as soon as he’d taken a breath at the surface. He was drifting farther away from the boat, his limbs losing strength. He eventually failed to keep himself above the surface, sinking deep, his body gone motionless.

“I’ve got you, Daniel. Don’t worry. I’ll take you to the rocks for now. Out of sight. Just hold your breath. You will be safe and breathing soon.”

He could hear Seongwoo and feel his hands but he couldn’t see him clearly. When he opened his eyes desperately to get a glimpse of the person he’d been desperately yearning to see for years, all he saw were swirls of white and murky, dark green debris and chunks of darkness.

He closed his eyes and held Seongwoo’s familiar smooth, gentle hands that were wrapped around his stomach, focusing on staying calm and keeping the air in his lungs. Seongwoo swam as fast as he could around to the other sides of the rocks where the boat couldn’t see them, pulling Daniel out of the water and resting him carefully against a rock.

Daniel coughed out water and rubbed his face clean. His heart was racing extensively when he felt the anxious gaze of the merman.

“S-seong…woo…thank…you…so glad…to see…”

“I’m glad to see you too. It’s been awhile, Daniel.”

Daniel turned towards the familiar voice and cracked open his eyes wet, stinging eyes. There his favorite person in the universe was, more beautiful than ever. A living fantasy picture. He was smiling softly with a wistful, happy look in his eyes. Brushing back the wet hairs from his face and then tracing his features with his cool hands. Daniel smiled back, admiring every part of his face bit by bit. It was much better than he remembered in his dreams.

“So…beautiful…thank god you’re alive and well…”

“You too, Daniel. You’re more beautiful than I remember.” The merman cutely mixed their languages together and he still had that slight speech impairment that Daniel found adorable.

“Glad you didn’t…forget me…” he huffed.

Seongwoo continued to brush his hair, his gorgeous green eyes seeping with sadness and regret.

“I came because I was worried you might forget me. Things are not as we wished they would be yet, but someday they will be. I’m sorry that I was hiding from you all this while. I wanted to stay away but I couldn’t. I also wanted to come to you, but I thought I shouldn’t. Since I had no good news for you about the progress convincing my people.”

Daniel shakily touched his chest and smiled reassuringly.

“It’s alright, Seongwoo. Those things take time. Decades even. My people are not easily changed either. But I have hope. We have to be patient and work hard. Whittle away at them like the sea does to the cliffs. Your people and mine, we’ll get there eventually. You don’t need to feel disappointed that you couldn’t make progress in a couple years. No more hiding, please? I’ve missed you dreadfully.”

Seongwoo hugged him and kissed his lips sweetly, then pressed his forehead to his cheek. Daniel then noticed that he was crying and some of those falling tears looked strangely like pearls.

“I’ve missed you terribly as well. I made a stupid choice. It won’t happen again. So, don’t stop coming out to search for me. Please. I can’t live without you. I can’t be happy without you in my life. Even seeing you from a distance was a slice of heaven that got me through each miserable, monotonous day confined in the palace like a goldfish in a bowl.”

“That’s awful, Seongwoo. I know just how that feels too. We’ll change it. Don’t worry. We will.”

“That doesn’t matter so much now. What matters is you’re alive and I’m by your side again.”

Daniel held his hands, turning to kiss him again. They shared in saccharine, loving looks. “Yeah, you’re right. That is what matters. Thank you for showing up again and for saving me.”

_“There was once a young prince_

_Who became obsessed with the sea_

_He loved it so much that he wanted to be_

_A part of that sea and so once he met_

_A lover who also enjoyed being wet_

_He rejected every princess, refusing to marry_

_Hence, why the palace has no son for the king to carry_

_At the rocks in the south when the tide is low and the moon high_

_They meet, they laugh, they kiss, and they cry_

_For as much as they love, they cannot be together_

_They embrace as they wait for the storm to weather_

_Now that young prince is our beloved king_

_And still his gentle fingers bear no ring_

_He still loves the sea as much as can be_

_Is there a mystery lover he meets, we’ll never know_

_Yet I sing this rather sad song to help me row”_

The fisherman sang this sorrowful song to the visiting tourists as he rowed a boat through the calm waves when it was low tide. As expected, they focused on his song and were curious about what it meant. How much of it were true about the king. He told them that everything was true. They speculated about who this lover was and how they were connected to the sea. If she was a princess from an island or if it were someone in the fishing industry that was lower class.

The fisherman paused in the middle of rowing to smile crookedly at them. “It might not be a human. It could be that our King’s lover is a mermaid.”

The tourists balked at that, their next questions involving whether he believed or if he’d seen any mermaid. That led the fisherman to tell about the different versions of the tale of Ariel, one of which was supposedly from an ancient king of the merpeople himself as a way to protect his people from harm.

He told them about the King’s decades-long campaign on the existence and peace with mermaids and that how he was sure that he’d seen several of them, so he believed they were real and supported the King’s wish that they could live in harmony with the merpeople. He told them of how the decades and the King’s persuasive, gracious nature were gradually changing the nation’s beliefs and opinions. The fisherman thought it was only a matter of time before the merpeople king would appear before the humans himself and make a deal with their king.

The tourists where flabbergasted. To them, mermaids had been nothing but a myth up until that moment. They left the sea with their world as they knew it flipped upside down, thinking they must return in ten years to see the progress of this development.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And that's the end! It's open and light-hearted after a whopping of angst. I wonder if I scared you there? Since I didn't put that this story is angst with a happy ending so I was hoping to trick you into thinking that I was giving you guys the same ending as the original Little Mermaid tale. I actually really wanted to end like that but I thought maybe I'd end up with knives thrown at me. So I made it open ended instead.
> 
> This story was a challenge for me. I really wanted to attempt to write a mermaid fic and I wanted it to be sort of calm and melancholy overall in tone. This turned out a bit funnier and fluffier than I originally planned but I think that I'm satisfied with it overall. I wonder if it came out as beautiful and fantasy-like as I wanted to try.
> 
> Well, I did my best and it's up now. I'd love to hear what you thought of it! Thank you for reading all the way to the end. You're amazing~ *high-five
> 
> <3 Raina

**Author's Note:**

> I've had this idea on my mind for a long time but it took me awhile longer than I thought to smooth out the plot. The most important thing I wanted to focus with this story is the tone. I hope that it's dreamy and romantic and melancholy and rather beautiful. I hope you will read to the end to see what happens.


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